Card index



CARD INDEX Filed April 18, 1954 Y WM ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 5, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFEE CARD INDEX Application April 18, 1934, SerialNo. 721,112

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a card index and particularly that type ofcard index adapted for use within a casing wherein a plurality of cardsare mounted in overlying face-toeface relation and are mounted forpivotally swinging from the casing and return thereto.

While it is not desired to limit the field of use of the card index ofthis application, the invention herein finds utility to great advantagein connection with its use as a catalog for telephone numbers.

Frequently, a telephone number is called or dialed and there is a delayin making connection with the number called or it is necessary to rel5peat the number called, and with an ordinary book index the desiredtelephone number has been forgotten or the book has been closed. It

is therefore desirable to provide a telephone index wherein a desirednumber may be maintained in view, leaving the hands free to manipulatethe telephone or write messages with a pencil, etc.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an index which isconveniently arranged for instantaneous reference and which may be, ifdesired, secured to the standard of a telephone, either of thewell-known 'conventional vertical type or of the so-called French typewherein both ear-piece and mouth-piece are combined in a singlestructure.

A further object is to provide a card index which is convenientlymountable and demountable from the support for purposes of change ofdata on the cards. Another object is to provide a card index which maybe conveniently mounted on a telephone standard by means of a clampbracket and which may be readily removed from the bracket.

Another object is to provide a card index having a convenient openingfor receiving a pencil.

A still further object is to provide a card index having a casing ofconnected front and rear face plates mounted in spaced relation by amember on which the cards may be pivotally mounted.

Another object is to provide a card index removably mountableinterchangeably on a telephone standard or on a table support.

Still further objects are to provide in a card index a simplified andeicient bracket whereon the index may be removably mounted on atelephone standard, and to provide such a bracket which is also adaptedto be spread flat for packing purposes; to provide a novel form of cardfor card indexes; to provide a card index which is neat in appearance,eflicient and simple in opera- 55. tion, and inexpensive to manufacture,and gener- (Cl. L10-105) ally to improve on known devices of thischaracter.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consist-s inthe novel construction and combination o-f parts hereinafter described,5 illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion, and size, number of parts and minor details of constructionwithin the scope l0 of the appended claims may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacriiicing any of the advantages of theinvention.

To more clearly comprehend the invention reference is direc-ted to theaccompanying drawing l5 wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of bracket and 'card index mounted on aconventional vertical type of telephone standard, -the latter beingpartially broken away. 20

Fig. 2 is a perspective of card index and bracket mounted on thestandard of a French type telephone, the upper portion of the indexbeing broken away.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation partially in section 25 taken laterallytransverse of the card index with front face plate removed `and showingthe bracket spread flat for packing.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line IV-IV of Fig. 3, with bracketpivotally turned to operative 30 position.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of a bracket having a portion of one armpartially broken away.

Fig. 6 is a perspective of an individual 'card of the index. 35 Fig. 7is a perspective of a rear view of an index mounted on a table support.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like characters of reference designatecorresponding parts,

l indicates generally a casing having a front face 40 plate 2 and a rearface plate 3 which` are relatively spaced at the bottom thereof by asupport which is elongated laterally of the face plates and hasup-formed flanges 5 on each of its sides and adjacent each of its ends,and to which the 45 respective face plates may be secured by suitablemeans, such as rivets Centrally of the elongated bottom support d, anadditional flange 'l is npr-formed on each side of the elongated support4the flanges l on the respective sides being in 50 a plane offset fromalignment from the flanges 5 so that the bottom edge of the face plates2 and 3 may be positioned between the flanges i and 'l on the respectivesides, thus being dennitely spaced at their bottom relative to eachother. The

face plates are spaced at their upper portion by a pivot member 8 whichcomprises a headed socket nut 9 and a headed screw I0, the former beingpassed through an opening II in one of the plates and having bearing onthe inner face of the opposite plate, as at I2, at an opening I3 whichis of lesser diameter than the exterior diameter of the socket nut, butis of sufficient diameter to receive therethrough the shank of the screwI0. The spaced plates 2 and 3 are preferably connected by a side memberI4 which serves an additional purpose hereinafter described.

Pivotally mounted on the member 8 are a plurality of cards I5 which mayhave suitable ruling thereon as at i3 for the entry of telephonenumbers, addresses, or other desired memoranda. The shape of the mainbody portion preferably conforms generally to the shape of the upperportion of the face plates comprising the casing. The cards preferablyhave an upformed embossing I1 around the periphery thereof and alsocircumferentially of the opening i3 as indicated at IS, the embossing ofthe cards extending through the body thereof and serving the purpose ofa rib to reinforce the card and also to space the respective cards intheir face-to-face relation so as to reduce the friction therebetweenand thereby prevent inadvertent removal of additional cards from theindex when it is intended to pull out a single card in the normal use ofthe index. Each card has an index tab 2.9 on its upper peripheral edge,said index tabs being preferably spaced from each othercircumferentially when the cards are in index formation as best shown at20a in Fig. 3, the latter' feature permitting the finger of the operatorto be inserted very v definitely and deeply between the index tabs ofadjoining cards so that as one card is removed from the index to theposition shown in Fig. 1, there will be no tendency of the finger of theoperator engaging or removing a card which is not selected. It will benoted particularly in Fig. 3 that the rivets 6 are in spaced relation tothe elongated support 4 and that the ends of the casing therebelow areleft open providing a ccmpartment 2I into which a pencil 22 may beinserted. The connecting member I4 serves also as a stop member when thecards l5 are manipulated into and out of the index as shown in Fig. 3.The cards have a side edge near the bottom resting against the member I4, and as shown in Fig. 1 the removed card is rested against the memberI4 and thereby supports the card so that the written matter thereon isplainly visible and the card prevented from further pivotal movement.

The casing includes means whereby the casing may be removably mountedupon a bracket and, as here exemplified, consists of an eyelet 23up-formed from the flanges l and preferably centrally thereof. In thecasing and index exemplied in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, a bracket isprovided whereon the casing may be removably mounted. The bracket,generally indicated 24, is best shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 5 as ayoke comp-rising a pair of arms 25, preferably of resilient materialsuch as strip metal, connected at their rear ends as at 26 and free attheir front ends 2l. The arms may be slotted as at 28 so as to betterengage a bead 2S of a telephone standard as shown in Figs. l and 2, thearms having a resilient cover member 3!! such as rubber tubing toprevent marring of the telephone instrument. The arms may be clamped tothe telephone instrument by means of a nut and bolt 3 I. Pivotallymounted to the yoke adjacent its rear connecting Wall 26 is a support 32for the casing. At one end the support 32 has pivotal connection withthe yoke of the arms 25 by means of bolt and nut 33 which passestherethrough, thus permitting the bracket 24 to be packed flat as in.Fig. 3, and also permitting any desired angle of adjustment when mountedon a telephone instrument. At the opposite end the support 32 isprovided with a lip 34 adapted to form a frictionally held slidab-le twithin the eyelet 23 of the casing, and the said walls 32*EL of thesupport 32 are flanged laterally outwardly and. downwardly as at 35 toprovide a platform or shoulder on which the bottom support i of thecasing rests and which prevents lateral tipping of the casing when thepressure on the cards is lateral to either remove a card from the packor in returning it thereto, said shoulder or platform inherentlylimiting the distance the lip will slide into the eye of the casing.

It is believed to be apparent that the casing and the enclosed cards maybe readily removed from the bracket in order that addresses may bechanged on the respective cards or corrections or f' additions madethereon, and that in so doing the casing and card will be substantiallyflat and thus avoid the inconvenience of removing the bracket or, on theother. hand, of having the bracket interfere with entry on either frontor reverse of the respective cards. It will be noted, particularly fromFig. 4, that the eyelet 23 is up-formed from both of the respectiveflanges I on opposite sides of the casing, so that both sides of thecard may be used for written memoranda and either side may be utilizedas the front in accordance with the desires of the particular operator.For instance, if an alphabetically arranged index is used on the frontof the cards, the rear of the cards may be used for a different set ofnotations, such as advance notice of events to occur in certain futuremonths. 'I'his duplicate use of the index is shown in Fig. 7; butwhether one side or the other of the cards, or both sides, are utilizedfor index purposes, the index and. the'casing are always readily andeasily removed from the supporting bracket and will present asubstantially flat surface upon which notations may be made on the cardsregardless of which side of the card is being employed for that purpose,and without interference which would be present in a fixedly attachedbracket.

In Fig. 7 a modification of the bracket is shown whereby the index maybe used entirely separate from a telephone instrument, and as equipmentfor a desk or table. For this purpose a base plate 35 is provided havingthe tongue 34 up-formed therefrom. When used as desk or table equipment,the base plate 36 may also be -used as a rack for fountain pens, pintray, ash receiver, or other miscellaneous objects, which may begenerally exemplified by the fountain pen sockets 31 illustrated in Fig.'7.

While it is not intended to confine the invention herein to a specifictype of casing and card, it is preferred that the body of the card,exclusive of the index tab, shall substantially conform to the generaloutline of the shape of the casing, that is, that the lower portion ofthe card shall be substantially rectangular and the upper portion of thecard shall be arcuate, and preferably on the line of a circle, the shapeof the card having two advantageous features. Firstly, the arcuateformation at the upper portion provides a greater lineal edge for theindex tabs so that they may be made larger and more distinct, ormultiplied in number, and also to provide an arcuate space for anyspecial data such as advertising matter which may be printed on eachcard; the lower portion of the card being rectangular provides for a.substantially uniform width for the entry of data on the cards. v

Having thus described. my invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. A card index comprising a casing for receiving a plurality ofpivotally mounted cards in side-by-side, face-to-face relation, saidcasing including supports for cards at front and rear, said supportsbeing relatively spaced, said casing including a means adapted forreleasably engaging a supporting bracket, and having a laterallytransverse opening below its card-receiving portion for receiving apencil or the like.

2. In a card index having a casing adapted for pivotally mounting aplurality of cards in faceto-face relation and having means adapted forreleasably engaging a bracket, a bracket comprising a yoke member havinga` pair of arms, means for selectively moving said arms toward and fromeach other, and a support member pivotally mounted to said yoke member,said support member having a portion for releasably engaging the casingfor the cards, and having wings extending outwardly from said lastmentioned portion, said wings being adapted for laterally supporting thecasing mounted on said support member.

3. in a card index having a casing adapted for pivotally mounting aplurality of cards in face-toface relation, a card member for saidcasing having a hole therein for mounting the card on a pivot member andhaving portions of its body up-formed from the plane of the card facecircumferentially of said opening, and also adjacent the marginal edgesof the card.

4. A card index comprising a. bracket adapted for releasably engaging asupport, said bracket including a lip to engage a card casing, and ashoulder to limit the engagement of bracket and casing, a casing forreceiving a plurality of cards in side-by-side, face-to-face relation,said casing including relatively spaced supports for' cards at iront andrear, said casing including a means adapted for slidably and releasablyengaging the lip of the supporting bracket, and the base of said casingbeing adapted to engage the shoulder on the bracket.

5. A card index comprising a casing for receiving a plurality ofpivotally mounted cards in side-by-side, iace-toface relation, saidcasing including a iront face plate and a rear face plate and means forrelatively spacing said face plates, said casing including a baseprovided with an eyelet adapted for slidably and releasably engaging asupporting bracket, a bracket comprising a pair of sections, one ofwhich includes a lip adapted for sliding t in said eyelet, and ashoulder to limit the engagement between casing and bracket, and theother of said sections including a pair of resilient arms for engaging asupport, said sections of the bracket being 5 relatively pivoted.

6. A card index comprising a casing for receiving a plurality ofpivotally mounted cards in side-by-side, face-to-facerelation, saidcasing including a base support having upwardly formed flanges at itssides, a front face plate and a rear face plate supported by therespective flanges, means for relatively spacing said face plates, oneof said flanges including means adapted for slidably and releasablyengaging a supporting bracket, and a supporting bracket adapted forreleasable engagement by said last mentioned means, said bracketcomprising a pair of pivotally jointed sections, one of which is adaptedfor releasably engaging a support on which the index is mounted.

7. A card index comprising a casing for receiving a plurality ofpivotally mounted cards in side-by-side, iace-to-face relation, saidcasing including a base support having upwardly formed flanges at itssides, a front face plate and a rear face plate supported by therespective flanges, means for relatively spacing said face plates, oneof said flanges including means adapted for slidably and releasablyengaging a supporting bracket, and a supporting bracket adapted forrele-asable engagement by said last mentioned means of the casing, thereleasable eng-agement of said casing and bracket being substantially inthe plane of a face of the casing, said bracket comprising a pair ofpivotally jointed sections one of which includes a shoulder to limit theengagement with the casing and the other of which is adapted forreleasably engaging a support on which the index is mounted. 40

8. A card index comprising a casing for receiving a plurality ofpivotally mounted cards in side-by-side, face-to-face relation, saidcasing having a pivotal mounting for cards and having a front face plateand a rear face plate and means for relatively spacing said face plates,said casing also including means centrally adjacent its base adapted forslidably releasably engaging a supporting bracket, and a supportingbracket including a lip adapted for releasable env 50 gagement by saidlast mentioned means, said bracket including a lateral support adaptedto engage the base of said casing, and said bracket including a pivotaljoint intermediate its ends and means whereby said pivotal joint may beselectively loosened and tightened, said casing being provided with astop member which supports a card removed on its pivot from the index.

ALLAN F. HUNT.

